Service Quality in Cruise Industry

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER: 2 LITERATURE REVIEW3

Introduction3

Statistics of Cruise Industry3

Service Quality5

Models of Service Quality8

Problems faced by Cruise Industry18

Steps to be taken by Cruise Industry18

Service Leadership19

Conclusion26

REFERENCES27

CHAPTER: 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides a description of the cruise industry, its features in service provision and its management and leading elements. Along with the statistics, all the components and features regarding the quality of services provided in the cruise industry shall be discussed here.

Introduction

The cruise industry present today is the industry of the crossroads in several ways. During the year 1980, there has been an unprecedented growth in this industry and that growth seemed to be continuing in the 1990s. At the same time, however, the industry faced a number of critical problems. There is obviously a sizeable demand for trained labour of various sorted on board cruise ships. The number of bureaucratic regulations relating to crew and everyday operations, and its resultant costs, had almost increased. Along with the increase in demand for entertainments and recreation, the people had given cruise industry a greater significance. The current recession in the Western world has furthermore, made business conditions difficult for all companies in the industry. Nevertheless, it seems that the largest problem facing the cruise industry today results from the way the cruise companies compete for guests.

Statistics of Cruise Industry

The cruise industry has touched peaks of progress in many countries. Just like other industries offering consumer goods, the cruise industry has also become one of the most common services offering industry in the field of recreation for customers. A record number of 15 million passengers have been forecasted for the year 2010, and these estimates are based on the results and fourth quarter estimates of the year 2010. Moreover, 11.1 million North American guests have also been estimated to be taking their places in the cruise industry. The annual occupancy of the cruise industry has reached around 103% and such a huge annual passenger growth for the year 2010 indicates that the, which has been hindered a lot by the demand outstripping the supply, is also attempting to gain economic resilience and flexibility in the economic crunch and burden (Parasuraman, 2011, pp. 35-48).

During the year 2010, there have been almost twelve ships which have debuted from Avalon Waterways, AMA Waterways, Celebrity, American Cruise Lines, Costa, Royal Caribbean International, MSC Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard Line and Norwegia Cruise Line. Most of these ships have the capacity for guests and seats which ranges from 101 to 5,400 passengers who have ever sailed the waters of the worlds for the very first time in their lives. The growth of cruise industry is highlighted by the growth of Caribbean which has been graded as the most popular and prevailing destination for the cruises among the common people and the tourists for a very long time. The growth of the industry accounts for 41.3% of all routes in 2010, against 37.02% in 2009, 37.25% in 2008, 41.02% in 2007 and ...